Tag / Oscar Wilde

by jim

2015: The Year In Books

2015booksWith another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, an increase of 8 from last year and my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 11 were non-fiction and, of the 20 novels, only 3 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 11 were e-books.  I read a nearly 9200 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992 and my second straight year reaching the 9000 mark.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 19 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Kurt Vonnegut
Jim Bouton
Melissa Joan Hart
Patton Oswalt
Erle Stanley Gardner
Doug Sohn
Kate DeVivo
Paula Hawkins
Jayson Stark
Scott Reifert
Oscar Wilde
Jeff Katz
Felicia Day
George Carlin
Max Allan Collins
Ann Brashares
David Lagercrantz
Graham Greene
Mary Kubica
Martin Short

The ghost writer for Richard Castle was the only author I read multiple titles from during 2015.

Ten books I read were released this year, while 3 of them were released prior to 1980, with one, The Picture of Dorian Gray, dating back to 1890.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in March, November, and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit. Continue reading →

by admin

Book 15 (of 52) – The Picture Of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar WIlde

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar WIlde

Recently, I got into some deep book conversations with my friend Hayley where she questioned my taste in books due to the preponderance of baseball books.  To combat this, I decided to dive into what she had declared as her favorite book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by noted playwright Oscar Wilde.  I was able to find a free version in the Amazon Kindle store, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the tale of a young English nobleman, who, after getting his portrait taken, makes a wish that he may stay forever young while the ravages of time and sin affect his visage in the painting.  After years of living a life of vanity and decadence, he finally decides to turn his life around and rid himself of the vile painting, when, in attempting to destroy the portrait, he reverses the wish and winds up killing himself, now bearing the weight and scars of the past.

While I can’t say I was a big fan of the book, I guess I’m glad that I read it.  Oscar Wilde is one of those names that shows up in trivia games and game shows, so it is good to have some first hand experience under my belt.  That said, I’m pretty sure my next outing will be something back in my comfort zone.